“Well, you can settle that afterwards,” said their mother. “You must wait and see what she likes best to be called. And that reminds me to say that I hope my children will be hospitable to their guest. Do you know what that means?”
“I know,” said Ambrose, gulping a piece of bread and butter very quickly in his haste to be first. “Let me say. It means taking care of people when they’re ill.”
“Not quite right,” said Mrs Hawthorn. “You are thinking of ‘hospital,’ which is a different thing, though both words come from the same idea; can you tell, Pennie?”
“It means being kind, doesn’t it?” said Pennie.
“It means something more than that. What do you say, Davie?”
“Always to give her the biggest piece,” said David, with his eyes thoughtfully fixed on the pile of bread and butter.
Nancy was then appealed to, but she always refused to apply her mind out of lesson hours, and only shook her head.
“Well,” said Mrs Hawthorn, “I think Davie’s explanation is about the best, for hospitality does mean giving our friends the best we have. But it means something more, for you might give Ethelwyn the biggest piece of everything, and yet she might not enjoy her visit at all. But if you try to make her happy in the way she likes best, and consider her amusement and comfort before your own, you will be hospitable, and I shall be very pleased with you all. I expect, however, she will be chiefly Pennie and Nancy’s companion, because, as she has no brothers and sisters, she may not care about the games you all play together. She has not been used to boys, and might find them a little rough and noisy.”
Pennie drew herself up a little. It would be rather nice to have a friend of her very own, and already she saw herself Ethelwyn’s sole support and adviser.
The children continued to ask questions until there was nothing else to be learnt about Ethelwyn, and she was made the subject of conversation after their mother left the room, and until tea was over. They made various plans for the amusement of the expected guest.